SACP mulls flying solo in local elections
Party is fed up with ANC’s poor record in many municipalities
● The SACP is considering going it alone in a number of municipalities and wards in the 2021 local government elections, particularly those administrations that have collapsed under the control of its alliance partner, the ANC.
The proposal is made in an internal discussion document drafted by the SACP ahead of its special national congress in December. It says the party will not give the ANC another blank cheque in 2021 if it fails to improve governance at municipal level.
Deputy general secretary Solly Mapaila told the Sunday Times on Friday that the SACP no longer wanted to be “taken for granted” by the ANC or watch from the sidelines as municipalities collapsed under its alliance partner.
There was a strong push for the SACP to contest this year’s general elections independently of the ANC, but the party decided to maintain the alliance status quo. However, its congress did not rule out going it alone in future.
The discussion document, “New possibilities, new challenges and new SACP responsibilities”, says the party would have to analyse each municipality or ward it intends to contest to assess its electoral prospects.
A decision to field its own candidate would depend on the party’s “capacity to mobilise its community, ideological maturity, ability to contribute to clean government, ability to form and lead a popular left front, and the attitude of potential voters”.
The party said it would formulate guidelines on identifying suitable municipalities or wards to contest independently of the ANC.
Mapaila said although it was still committed to the renewal of the ANC, the SACP was keeping its options open for 2021 and even for the 2024 general elections in case President Cyril Ramaphosa’s party failed to reform.
“We are of the view that in order to hasten the pace of our revolution, we will require an alliance that functions effectively, but at the moment that alliance does not, for a variety of reasons,” said Mapaila.
“We feel the national democratic revolution has stagnated and it needs some rejuvenation and maybe the SACP contesting elections will bring in that rejuvenation.
“Much as we have committed ourselves to rebuilding the ANC to play its role, there is resistance in the form of the fightback and other ways.
“But the SACP will not allow itself to be undermined. We rejected that under former president Jacob Zuma and we will reject it under any president.”
In the discussion document, the SACP proposes that members make themselves visible to their communities through monthly “blitzes” focusing on issues such as housing, health, hunger, gender-based violence and the environment. The blitzes would include door-to-door visits and publicity drives at taxi ranks, train stations and other places where people gather.
It also wants its foot soldiers to organise interventions that improve the quality of life in the communities it is targeting.
“This could take a variety of forms such as hiring equipment to fill potholes, organising cleanup equipment to remove waste from streets and streams, organising teams to identify and, where possible, stop water leaks, and organising basic health screening in working-class communities, targeting the elderly, the very young and the ill.”
Mapaila said Metsimaholo municipality in the Free State, which is run by an SACP mayor, Lindiwe Tshongwe, at the head of a coalition, will be a major focus in 2021.
But the coalition there is shaky and some members of it have brought a number of motions of no confidence against Tshongwe.
Mapaila blamed the instability on the ANC, which he said was opposed to Tshongwe’s anti-corruption stance.
“The rocking of the boat in Metsimaholo is being done by the ANC. We have our mayor there who has faced more than seven motions of no confidence, all because of her fight against corruption, nothing else,” he said.
The lessons from Metsimaholo would help the SACP in 2021, he said. “[It] has been a very important experience for us because we now know what state power is.”
Mapaila said the party’s position on contesting local government elections was clear, “but it still needs to be discussed as it should not be a haphazard approach”.
The national democratic revolution has stagnated and it needs some rejuvenation Solly Mapaila
SACP deputy general secretary